Rye Shakespeare Company

Rye Shakespeare Company near East Guldeford, East Sussex

The Rye Shakespeare Company was founded in 1990 to perform outdoor drama as part of Rye’s annual Medieval Festival.
Since then, we have performed work by Shakespeare, Chaucer, Priestley and Pushkin but are best known for our on-going series “The Secret History of Rye”.
These outrageous comedies concern the adventures of famous historical characters in Rye (whether or not they actually came here!) Among those depicted have been: Napoleon & Wellington;Elizabeth 1st; Mary Queen of Scots; Antony & Cleopatra; Julius Caesar; Eleanor of Aquitane; Henry 11; Charles 11; Nell Gwynne; Samuel Pepys; Warwick the Kingmaker; Richard 111; William Shakespeare; John Fletcher; Christopher Marlowe; William & Mary; Queen Victoria - plus contemporary Ryers, Spies and Sluts.
We perform on the Green by the Ypres Tower (Rye Castle Museum) on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings of the August Bank Holiday, weather permitting.
We have also performed indoors, appearing three times in the Rye Arts Festival with productions of ‘The Hollow Crown’, ‘An Antient Town’ and ‘Murder Aforesaid- The Trial of John Breeds’ and at the Rye Art Gallery, the Town Hall, the Mermaid and the George. For the Rye Museum we also write a ‘Tilling’ play for their New Year’s party and ‘Musicals’ have included ‘Ryevita’, ‘The Sound of Gossip’, ‘Marye Poppins’ and ‘The King and Rye’.
In August 2011 we added King Arthur and Sir Prancelot to our list of distinguished visitors and who knows who it will be this year – watch this space!